Friday, June 26, 2009

Taking off!

Well, that doll was the magic item that suddenly got my shop hopping. Within an hour of posting him, he was sold and I had orders for THREE more. Plus, a wonderful woman bought one of my bowls and another bought a catnip toy. It's just so exciting! I hope I can get the dolls finished quickly. While they're pretty easy to make, it's tough when my three-year-old son is running around. As soon as the crochet hook comes out, he suddenly has an owie, is hungry, and lost his favorite toy.



Tomorrow I head to my new job as a dog groomer. I used to own my own grooming shop, but the economy forced me to close it down last year. My panic disorder is easing up enough that I'm trying to go back to work. Unfortunately, the social anxiety component is so severe that I can't really deal with PEOPLE. Luckily I have a friend who owns a grooming shop (officially, the best in Albuquerque--Bath, Brush, and Beyond). She's willing to let me work there one day a week to ease back into the work world.



One thing's for sure, though, I'll never go back to accounting again!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

My first human doll!


Just finished this little guy last night. He was really easy to make, but I didn't want to use buttons for his eyes, so I had to wait a week until I got to a craft store to buy felt. Isn't he adorable? My youngest son (three) insists that I made the little fellow for him, so I guess I'll have to make another one. It'll be hard to part with this one. He's been sitting on the couch without eyes for over a week, just hanging out with us while we watch TV. I'll miss him when he's gone!


Right now I'm working on another afghan for the shop, and next will be another teddy bear, since my only teddy bear was purchased a few days ago.


I love crocheting. It keeps me sane!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Washcloths


They're so addictive to make! I mean, they're easy to crochet, make up pretty fast, are beautiful (all those gorgeous cotton colors!), and are really highly functional. What's not to love? I have a new set going up today as soon as I get pictures of it. Yesterday's post was also of washcloths.

I also make mini washcloths. Some Etsy folk call them scrubbies, but I haven't necessarily jumped on that bandwagon. They're basically the same thing you see at right, but only a few inches square. You use them the same way you'd use cotton facial squares: to remove makeup. A lot of people like to use them because they're reusable. You don't just toss them in the garbage where they'll end up in a landfill.

Great idea, huh?

http://bowenism.etsy.com/

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Saudi Arabia

I just added my first blog to follow, "Is My English Strange?" and it reminded me of home. I grew up, an expatriate American, in a large American compound, in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. My family was there almost constantly from 1980 to 1995. Dhahran is home to me, although it's been 13 years since I smelled the oily dustiness of its hot air. I'll probably never be able to go back (the cost of a plane ticket is prohibitive), but my memories are something I work hard to keep alive.

I'm what you call a Third Culture Kid, someone raised in a foreign culture who has combined elements of their two "home" cultures. So I totally admire this blogger for learning another language and learning more about Western culture. My language in high school (a fancy-schmancy New England boarding school that I hated, thank you very much) was Russian. No, I've never been there, and, no, I never really intended to. It was just a beautiful language. You knew what they say, though, about losing it if you don't use it. So most of it is gone, despite the five years of painstaking study. Sadly, I recall very little Arabic as well.

Maybe it's all the drugs I did in high school....

It's done!


Well, I FINALLY finished the green afghan at about 8:30 this morning. I woke up very early (around 6:30), before my youngest son could get up and absorb all my attention. The yarn was calling my name very softly from the living room. I tiptoed out, trying not to disturn anyone, but of course the dogs heard me and insisted on being included.


My big dilemma was whether to keep or sell the blanket, but after five week (off and on, granted) spent swathed in its dark green folds, I've decided I just can't part with it.


I did manage to post a new item today, though, a Bowenism Bowl in deep gloaming. I called the color that because it's made from two different colors of yarn: royal purple and dark teal. Not sure the pictures do it justice. It's so hard to take pictures of small, inanimate objects when you're used to photographing children and dogs!


My favorite bowl picture is of the bowl in royal purple. Something about the contrast between the soft, felted purple wool, and the hard roundness of the colorful buttons....

Friday, June 12, 2009

Green afghan

Today I'm going to work on finishing my forest green afghan. Those long projects are rough--I can't seem to keep focused on them for long enough to get them done very quickly. I finished another felted bowl the other day that I need to post as well. Those bowls are so much fun to make, because the finished project is so radically different after it comes out of the washing machine! Can't wait to make more.

I spend so much time making things for other people and my Etsy shop that I don't make things for myself. That green afghan might just end up being my very own "security" blanket. Hehehehe.....

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Who are we?


Jim, my husband, is an IT systems specialist and part-time woodworker. So far he hasn't posted any of his creations for sale, but I'm optomistic that he will soon. He has a great idea for dog stairs. We have a little Chihuahua who can't get on the bed by herself, and he thought it would be great to build her a little set of stairs. He'd like to build a few extra sets for those of you out there who have small and/or elderly dogs with the same problem. He's got great ideas and often inspires me to try a new crochet project.


Angela (that's me!) is a stay-at-home-mom. Several months ago I developed a severe panic disorder that prevents me from working, so I do what I can from our home. It's great spending so much time with my kids (together, we have six kids and one grandkid, so they keep us pretty busy). I picked up my crochet hook back in December '08 just for something to do, and it turned out to be very therapeutic. Now I crochet every chance I get. Don't tell Jim, but I'm usually rushing around the house an hour before he comes home, trying to complete chores shirked in favor of crocheting!


We are big believers in community involvement. Jim has two children with disabilities, so we donate fun items to UNM Children's Hospital for the kids there to make their stays less scary. We recently participated in the Ride for Kids, an annual nationwide bike run the benefit the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. It was great!


Anyway, here's a picture of us from the run. 8) Have a good day!

Hello!

This is the first blog entry for Bowenism's Odds and Ends. Bowenism's Odds and Ends is the Etsy shop of Angela (me) and Jim (my wonderful husband).

Bowenism's Odds and Ends offers crocheted items for the home, plus a few other things, like photographs of the beautiful state of New Mexico, where we live.

Stay tuned for entries on projects we're working on!